The Worst Witch 2017 - EXPELLED
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: Based in the 2017 reboot, Ethel Hallow has finally succeeded; Mildred has been expelled and when the truth comes out no-one likes the results. Mildred has grown out of her fantasies that she can become a witch and wants nothing to do with Cackles or her former friends who betrayed her trust and walked over her.


Disclaimer - I don't own the Worst Witch - telemovie, 90s series, and the 2017 series. No, I just wanted to write this little possibility of Mildred being expelled and realising it was the best thing ever.

* * *

The sound of her daughter's sobbing broke Julie's heart and it vindicated her belief Cackles wasn't for Mildred, she also had half a mind to drive to the other side of the town to that damn castle and give Miss Ada bloody Cackle and that bitch Hardbroom an earful. No-one made her baby girl cry her eyes out, no-one. The thought gave Julie some comfort before she pushed it aside when she remembered how effortlessly the witches pulled her into the school and then out again without breaking sweat to discuss the possibility of Mildred attending after saving the school from the Cackle woman's insane sister. The day had started out badly for Julie. First it was raining, so she would have to endure all that, and she'd had a bad day at work before coming home and finding Mildred on the doorstep. Soaking wet.

"Mildred? Why aren't you at school?" Julie had asked her sobbing daughter. Mildred had been in a state, and soaked to the skin, her dark hair plastered against her scalp.

"I've been expelled," Mildred had said in a heartbroken whisper, "all those chances. Gone. I had to walk all the way home. I couldn't use that broomstick, though knowing my luck I'd have crashed into a tree!"

Yeah, Mildred had told her that in the letters she'd sent saying broomstick flying was a nightmare. "Why didn't you phone me?" THAT wasn't like Mildred, yeah the girl could be forgetful, but she wasn't that forgetful. As soon as she saw it was tipping it down, she would have phoned her at once.

"Hardbroom confiscated my mobile. She didn't give it back even when I was expelled," Mildred had looked upset, and for good reason - she loved that phone. Their family didn't have much just each other.

Julie shook her head to clear the memory of how she'd found her beloved daughter on the doorstep waiting for her and lightly rapped on the door. She hated disturbing Mildred, but she needed to move on. "Millie, I'm coming in,"she whispered.

"Okay." Julie hated the tone her daughter had spoken with. But she pushed it aside, Mildred needed her. Julie sighed, once more cursing Cackle's academy in her mind, and walked inside. Mildred had gotten out of the Cackle's uniform and thrown it into a heap on the floor. Despite wondering just how her daughter felt about the school now Julie ignored it and focused on Mildred, who was now dressed like any other normal girl. She still looked miserable with her red rimmed eyes under her towel wrapped hair. I hope she's gotten over the worst of it, Julie thought to herself before sitting on the side of her bed. She didn't say a word, she just gently tugged the girl and pulled her into a one armed hug and rocked her.

It was Mildred who broke the silence. "You knew this would happen, didn't you?"

Unsurprised by Mildred's perceptiveness, Julie decided to be honest. "I was worried you wouldn't fit in right away, but I'd hoped you'd be able to stand on your own two feet. You were the only girl from a non witch family in that damn place, the other girls had grown up with magic around them, but they expected too much from you rather than simply help you settle in so there wasn't a support system in place. They just threw you into a swimming pool and see if you'd sink or swim."

Mildred accepted the logic of her mothers statement because she knew she was right. Everyone seemed to expect her to know everything there was to know about magical culture. She didn't know what the "Well met" expression meant except it being a greeting of respect, and who she should use it on. Nobody had told her. And then what about her lessons, and the unfair treatment she received from certain teachers beyond those willing and patient enough to give her a chance rather than condemn her? Sighing Mildred pulled away from her mum and looked at her shoes for a second before looking up. "What do I do now?" she asked plaintively. Julie smiled at her, though Mildred saw the smile was tinged with sadness on her behalf. "I don't think you've got much choice now, Millie," she whispered. Mildred thought for a second about what her mother meant before realising and nodded, "Normal secondary school."

"Yeah."

Mildred looked down at the palms of her hands before she nodded. She had faced reality, grown up. Let Maud and Enid become fully fledged witches, it was their world, it was expected of them. That hurt her, ever since she'd been a little girl she had loved all those witch stories, and she'd used to dream and to fantasise about herself brewing potions and riding a broomstick. The reality was very different. She was not part of their world and never could be either, all she had been was a blot on an otherwise clean surface with her non magical background, and although she'd been eager to learn she hadn't been given a chance to truly shine. She had been an embarrassment. At least in the normal world she would understand the culture, know how to use technology and just be herself rather than a girl who was shouted at for not being able to grasp a spell.

"Okay. I only hope I can make up for lost time."

The atmosphere at Cackles had reached an all time low a fortnight after Mildred's expulsion. At first people like Hecate Hardbroom had been quite pleased she was gone, and so was Ethel Hallow who was smug but for many people - students and teachers alike who had cared about and liked Mildred, were glum. But then things changed and not for the better. For a start Hecate began losing her mind, such as during lessons whenever something went wrong she would say "Mildred Hubble!" in that angry, but soft voice that never failed to send shivers down the backs of whoever was in the vicinity before realising Mildred was gone. Seeing an emotion so -alien - was scary on Hardbroom's face. And then for no explicable reason she would look…..sad and lost. That made little sense to the first year girls since they knew how much HB had despised Mildred, though Maud knew it was because Hardbroom had been so set in her belief magical school was no place for Mildred it had made her inflexible to the point where every one of Mildred's failures seemed to be a capital offence. Meanwhile Ada Cackle was spending more and more of her time in her office, wondering about the expulsion. If there was one thing the elderly headmistress disliked it was expelling students. It made her depressed because many of those students had been girls who were bright and yet deprived of an education at Cackles. It was alright for girls like Enid Nightshade who was extremely proficient as a witch, but her mischievous, trouble making streak simply got out of control. But Mildred…. Ada had taken to the girl at once, charmed by the girls disposition, but unfortunately the evidence had been stacked against Mildred and it had been enough to get her expelled. Ada sighed one afternoon as she remembered the disaster. Ada Cackle had been embarrassed many times, but never before such a high ranking entourage of witches and wizards before. Even now she was….displeased with the reaction now she'd calmed down.

The high ranking officials usually went from school to school as VIPs to see the training of the next generations taught magic. They watched and suggested ways of improving the students. It had gone so well at first. But then like many things it became a mess. Mildred, much to her concern, had been part of a broomstick display, which in hindsight had been a big mistake because she'd ended up ruining the whole thing, injuring her own classmates and causing them to crash into the crowd. Ada sighed again in regret but back then she had been furious. Why shouldn't she be angry? She had just been humiliated, her school's reputation had been tarnished. For the first time ever she agreed wholeheartedly with Hecate and expelled Mildred. But she had gone too far.

For a long time Ada had known the Craft was in decline, and that was one of the reasons why she had felt Mildred's attendance was a good idea despite opposition from quite a few people including Hecate, who believed that magic should belong solely to those in the know like the old families. But she had been firm in her belief that a girl from the non-magical world and was now sad and humiliated to see that her belief was wrong. Hecate was right; Mildred simply wasn't magical material. The aftermath of the disaster was still being felt throughout the school. Maud and Enid had both been disgraced by the incident, and they'd shunned Mildred for it, the look on her face would forever haunt Miss Cackle but even when Mildred had been forced to stand in front of the entire school Ada had let loose a string of terrible things that had been bubbling away inside her along with the anger at seeing her school her family had strived so hard to build be ruined. Mildred had left the next morning in the freezing rain without her broomstick (Hecate snatched it from her, leering, "You've crashed quite enough, I think,") leaving the girl get soaking wet. That was when Miss Bat offered to cast a spell to keep her dry, but Mildred had shied away from that, and in a voice totally out of character said she had survived without magic her whole life. Then she was gone.

Things went back to normal though the teachers had needed to work overtime to mitigate the worst of the damage caused by Mildred, and in that time the anger receded and everyone had a question on their minds but didn't dare speak it, "What have we done?" Ada shook her head and looked down at her paperwork. She'd barely done it and it kept mounting. She pushed it away and decided to take an invisible inspection of the school. All the girls were in class at the moment so that handed her some time for herself. When the girls finally emerged from lessons, talking to each other and letting their voices overlap Ada stood in the background. She caught sight of Maud and Enid and sighed mentally so as not to give herself away. Both girls looked depressed and upset. They knew they had gone too far, but they didn't know what to do now. She knew how they felt. Suddenly she heard a furious voice and quickly picked out the culprit.

Drusilla Paddock.

"I can't stand it any longer Ethel," the girl who could be described as the only person willing to spend time with Ethel Hallow was saying furiously, "I'm going to talk."

"No you won't," Ethel snapped, trying to whisper, but Drusilla wouldn't have it.

"I can. It's one thing to trick someone and turn them into a frog, but to get them into that… you're sick. You're deranged. I don't care if I get expelled."

The argument had attracted the attention of all the girls who were now looking at them both with varying expressions. Ethel noticed it, being sharper than Drusilla. "Be quiet you fool-"

"No, I won't," Drusilla looked around at the faces with resolve. "You and I cursed Mildred's broomstick, making her crash. You kept ranting about getting her back for turning you into a pig. Well, you are a pig. You're foul, loathsome, evil and twisted."

Ada became visible again just as Hecate appeared, the look of anger on her face indicating she'd heard what Drusilla had just said. "Drusilla, Ethel, you will both come to my office and tell me what you have done. Then I will decide your punishments."

Ethel had the gall to believe she didn't have to go; that was the trouble with the Hallow family, believing their fortune and their influence meant they were above things as trivial as punishments. She was mistaken. "You can't-"

"YES, YOU CAN! IF WHAT I'M HEARING IS RIGHT, YOU HUMILIATED THIS SCHOOL BY COVERING IT UP AND FRAMING AN INNOCENT GIRL!" Ada screamed in her face. "Now get to my office, and stop giving me the attitude!"

The meeting was enlightening. Ethel had become even more obsessive with getting Mildred into enough trouble to see her kicked out of the academy, and it was obvious Ethel had been on the verge of boasting about how clever she had been, though she had used her good sense to not say a word. But Drusilla had become depressed and more than a little guilty, but that didn't mean she was exempt from punishment. By the end of the meeting Ada was left in her chair with her head in her hands. Ethel's bigoted little rant about Mildred not deserving a place at the school that seemed to go hand in hand with her own hateful and bitter words to the girl when she was expelled.

Hecate who had been standing next to her as usual looked down at her. "What are we going to do?" she asked.

Ada sighed. What could they do? They had been humiliated and in turn bullied and mentally abused an innocent girl and dragged her heritage and deemed it unworthy of practicing the Craft. They were no better than Ethel Hallow. "I don't know," and she really didn't.

The outcome of Ethel and Drusilla's confession was like a potion exploding in the face and the guilt everyone shared already for what had happened had reached an all time high. The question what have we done gained greater significance, and everyone who had claimed to be Mildred's friend instantly started writing letters to her, telling her what had happened in the hope of her coming back.

No reply. Maud and Enid sent desperate letters to their friend, but there was still no response. It was like Mildred had ceased to exist. At first they refused to believe their friend wanted nothing more to do with them both though the possibility was very real in both their minds, that she was hurting and was playing a game with them, but they had to face facts quick. Mildred wasn't going to answer them. They didn't even know if she received their letters and simply burnt them or tore them up. The girls in every year cried themselves to sleep as they thought of their guilt, it was so odd that the school screw up had such an effect on everyone around her.

Meanwhile a debate was going on with the teachers who weren't exempt from the guilt either. Mr Rowan Webb himself had been the only teacher to truly wonder if Mildred was guilty, but he had been shot down by everyone else who said he was biased. Personally Algernon didn't really care if those high ranking idiots had been humiliated because he'd been exposed to their sense of entitlement all his life. They were right about him being biased.

Mildred had been the only person to get him back after Miss Gullet had turned him into a frog, but that had only come after Ethel had turned Mildred into a frog herself. Algernon knew that in a world where animal transfiguration occurred on a daily basis it was only a matter of time before Gullet's crime came to light. Flouting the Witches code was a serious offence as well as attempted murder. She hadn't even stood her ground like a proper witch should, no she had decided to run away.

As the debate wore on Algernon had stood up and told his fellow teachers a few home truths. "Personally I would like to see Mildred come back. That girl has a lot of potential, but I'm also a realist. I spent the better part of my life in a pond after spending most of my time looking forwards to teaching. I saw her struggling and I gave her as much one-to- one as I could to help her. None of you lifted a finger to help her adjust to her new environment. You all subjected her to lessons when she didn't know anything of our culture. And now you talk about getting her back? Why, to ease your consciences?"

He'd taken a deep breath. "I watched that poor girl cry herself to sleep on the day you expelled her and allowed her to stay just one more night. She was alone with only her tabby cat for company. Her fair weathered friends had turned their backs, proving they were as narrow minded as that awful pair who got her into this mess in the first place. I comforted her, told her it wasn't her fault, but I could see while she was glad I was there she didn't know if she could trust me. And that is what you have done, all of you, you broke her trust. You can try to get her back, but you might not like what you find."

He had sat down and refused to say anything more on the matter. But the debate had become more thick with the consideration of what Algernon had just said. He was right. They had been narrow minded, they had never taken the time or the trouble to explain magical culture to the girl, they'd just forced her into the lessons without a second thought.

* * *

Mildred sighed as she threw the latest letter from Maud into a pile of similar letters, asking herself how much more she could take before she went mad. Her ex best friend had certainly laid it on thick, saying for the hundredth time she was so sorry for all the hateful things she'd said directly to her face, like how HB had been right when she'd said she, Maud, would need to have better friends who wouldn't bring her down. Mildred tried hard to not think about that. She had needed Maud and Enid as a support system, otherwise she would've been alone. But hearing her say those terrible things along with what Enid had said told her that was what they both really thought of her and her ignorance of the magical world. It was hardly Mildred's fault she was born into a world, was it? And yet those two cowards seemed to think magic should be exclusive. Maybe it should be. One thing was certain, Mildred pitied any poor girl who was born into a nonmagical family and entered a school like Cackles.

And they had the nerve to say they were sorry. Well, if they thought they could simply say sorry to her and say it would never happen again they would be waiting for years for forgiveness. Mildred had lost any interest in the affairs of Cackles Academy and all she wanted now was to be left alone.

The only person from that miserable school to truly be on her side was Mr Rowan Webb. Like the others he'd sent letters, but his letters seemed more genuine than the others who didn't realise yet she didn't care about their world, but he had quickly grasped it. He told her he would always be her friend whenever she needed him, and told her to simply get on with her life and to simply be happy and that she deserved a chance. Those letters always warmed Mildred's heart. At least he wasn't pretentious and fake like the others. But still….. Algernon had a point when he'd told her when she'd been ready to get out of Cackles after that disaster where Ethel had been turned into a frog, about a little voice asking "what if?" Mildred had been asking that question more and more since her expulsion. What if Maud had never crashed into her balcony on her way to the entrance exam? What if her mother had refused to admit her into the academy? What if she hadn't been expelled? What if Maud and Enid were still only her friend out of pity rather than out of genuine liking for her? Mildred shook her head, and decided to be more realistic. She would never again take part in any of those lessons, having to mispronounce the words for a spell, mistake one ingredient in a potion, never again have to be scolded by Cackle or sneered at by Hardbroom who was just waiting in the wings, waiting and willing for her to make one mistake too many.

In any case, even if by some quirk of fate, she was readmitted into the academy, she would still not be up to the standards of the school, always be ignored because of her heritage like it was the fault of her mother for not being a witch to teach her how to behave like one. Shrugging Mildred continued reading the letters. She'd found that letting them accumulate made reading them easier because it revealed a pattern. Each one of the writers seemed to become more and more desperate. Esmerelda Hallow herself had written a few letters, always repeating the same endless apologies for what Ethel had done. Mildred now knew the story of what Ethel and Drusilla had done with the broomstick, how clever and smug they'd both been, but truthfully in a rather sick way Mildred felt she owed the pair a thank you because without them she would never have learnt how she didn't have anything at the school. Esmerelda took her sisters actions with a lot of shame and Mildred felt truly sorry for her. She had quickly learnt that the eldest in a magical family inherited everything, so after what her younger sister had done Esmerelda would have to do a lot of damage control. Mildred was tempted to write her a letter to tell her it wasn't her fault and she shouldn't be the one to apologise for the actions of her sister. She had seen how the two girls interacted, on the surface it seemed amicable enough but Ethel wasn't a good person. Mildred had seen the resentment in her eyes and the uncertainty in Esmerelda's whenever the two had spoken. She asked herself if Ethel's outlook on life came from the bitterness she felt towards her older sister whose only crime was being born a few years before her.

Mildred actually enjoyed going to a normal school because most of her old friends were there and that in the lessons no teacher shouted at her in case she didn't grasp a concept. She hadn't told them about Cackles, except that the school she'd gone to before leaving just hadn't suited her. Mildred hadn't told them about the misery heaped onto her shoulders by the biased and bigoted teachers and students. She was just glad to be back with her old friends though she'd had to do a bit of damage control. It was a good thing Mildred had kept in touch with them by letter - she'd truthfully told them her phone had been confiscated hence why she couldn't just speak to them like normal, otherwise she'd have called all the time and she'd have never been able to be friends with them. Mildred had been a bit off at first, still reeling from the betrayal of both End and Maud. Eventually she'd told them about what happened, though she'd had to keep herself from telling them magic existed. After that she felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She would never forget or forgive Maud or Enid or any of the others for what they'd done the day she was expelled, but with that out of the way she could focus on her life. After school she would get on her bike and head out on her paper round. It was ironic - in the non magical world she was terrible at flying on a broomstick but here where she was born, she was a decent cyclist.

Maybe it was the uncertainty which had made her so useless, but Mildred didn't care. It took her an hour and a half to deliver all the papers and receive her pay. She was saving up for a new mobile to replace her original so her mother wouldn't have to fork out an arm and a leg for it. As the weeks went by Mildred's inner voice which called out for her to be a witch again died out. She was grateful for that because she was tired of regretting all the lost chances she could have had.

4-5 weeks after she'd been kicked out of Cackles, Mildred was climbing the stairs to her flat. She had missed the lift. Again. But she was used to this, and knew hurrying up the stairs would simply tire her out, so she walked up sedately to the flat she shared with her mum and Tabby. When she got to her door and fished out her key, she heard some muffled voices from inside the flat. At first Mildred thought they were from her mum's friends, but why did her mum sound angry and bitter?

Puzzled and worried Mildred opened the door. "Mum? I'm back, what's going-" she paused in surprise when she saw who was in the flat with her mother, and she was instantly on the offensive, "on? What are you two doing here?"

Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom were in the living room of her flat. The two women seemed so out of place here, though Cackle's dress sense was more in line with the type of thing normal people wore, but Hardbroom would always stand out. Neither woman had changed that much - Cackle was still dressed in that pink cardigan that made her look like a strawberry ice cream and HB still looked like a black stick insect that looked as though all the life had been sucked dry. Cackle still had that cheerful smile on her face, but it was dimmed in an emotion Mildred couldn't and didn't want to place. Judging from the look on Julie's face, her mother had been having an argument with the two witches.

"Hello Mildred." Typical Miss Cackle - always needing to be friendly and polite, never once getting to the point. "How are you getting on?"

Mildred didn't bother answering her at once. She took off her bag and coat and dropped them casually on a chair. "Better," she said. "I've got my life back on track. You were right - I don't belong in your world, and I thank god for that. But I still don't understand why you're both here?"

"Mildred, I didn't mean that-" Cackle tried to protest, but Mildred wasn't having it. "Then why did you say it Miss Cackle? I looked up to you, I wanted to make you proud of the decision to give me a trial run at the Academy, I worked hard to try and earn so much respect from people and to make them look beyond the heritage which oh so offended you all, and then you threw all that back into my face. I already had enough people telling me I didn't belong because of my background as an excuse, but I kept trying because I had talked myself into thinking you'd be happy if I succeeded. I was wrong, I admit that. Why can't you? Just be straight - why are you here?"

Cackle had been visibly wilting with every word. "We have decided to give it another chance. We came to see if you wanted to come back to Cackles."

Mildred couldn't believe it. She was literally lost for words. Had Cackle just said what she'd thought she'd said? Yeah, she had. "What?" she whispered.

"We came to see if you wanted to come back to Cackles," the elderly headmistress repeated. The first thing Mildred felt was shock and amazement, and she wondered if they were doing this deliberately to raise hopes she simply didn't have anymore. No. They were both being sincere. If they had decided to once again play with her feelings a week after her expulsion then Mildred might have said yes. But she had been given the chance to stew long before that. Mildred shook her head, "Is this normal for a magical school? Its just when I define the word expulsion, it basically means, to me, don't come back. I thought that was true with magical schools."

"It is, but extenuating circumstances have made us revise our practices," Hardbroom said, speaking for the first time. Mildred studied her, HB was still just as cold, standoffish and aloof as always. But like Cackle there was something in her eye Mildred didn't place, or didn't want to. The girl asked herself what HB was thinking at the moment before deciding she didn't really care. Why should she care about the woman when all she'd received from her had been bitter cold dislike?

"I know that thanks to Drusilla everyone knows what really happened, but tell me why should I care? I was still kicked out of Cackles." Julie listened, but she put a comforting hand over Mildred's wrist. Mildred smiled back at her mother.

"It's come to our attention you didn't have an easy time at the academy, and I apologise for that Mildred, and would like to see if you would like to give it another go," Cackle said, hating to interrupt the moment between mother and daughter. "Things would be very different. I promise."

Mildred was silent for a minute, giving the impression she was thinking it over whilst her mother looked at her with worry. What if Mildred was really thinking about it? "What am I wearing Miss Cackle?" Mildred finally said, surprising them with the question.

Cackle gave her uniform a once over. "A school uniform."

Mildred nodded. "I have just settled into secondary school, reunited with my old friends before I met Maud. They're not as judgmental as Maud and Enid. Do you really think I'm just going to wave goodbye to them again for you, because if you do you're even more out of it than I thought. This is what you wanted all along, right?" she looked between both witches. "Didn't you tell Maud when we'd performed that switching spell and you told her you wanted her to have better friends? Now she has that chance, she doesn't need to be embarrassed being seen with me anymore out of pity."

Hardbroom's voice was shaking, but no-one but her knew what she was feeling. "Mildred, I didn't mean it like that-"

Julie saw that as a cue to get involved. "Then what did you mean? From what I have found out my daughter was victimised and misunderstood, and to make matters worse she didn't understand the culture because no one bothered to show it to her. Why can't you see that?"

"This doesn't concern you-"

Mildred was instantly defensive of her mother and she rounded on Cackle, the last person she'd expected to be so bigoted but had proven her wrong again and again. But now was worse. Cackle had just practically implied her mother's question had no bearing, that she and her concerns were not important. And that angered Mildred.

"Yes it does. She's my mother. And you've just gotten your answer. I don't want to come back to Cackles, not if you're like this with my mother. Tell everyone to stop sending those stupid letters and stop their useless pity party. It's not going to work and it shows them in a bad light. I want to be left alone. Tell Maud to not crash on my balcony again, I don't want to see her anytime soon. I'm off to my room, I've got homework to sort through."

After giving Julie a quick hug she left the room, picking her bag up on the way. Once she had closed the door she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wood, shaking with repressed anger. How dare they? How dare they play with her feelings like they meant nothing? Had their mixed society become so closed in they didn't care about the people they hurt? Mildred shook her head, fed up trying to work out how other people's minds worked, and went over to her desk and took out her books and things needed to get her work done. She was just getting started when Hardbroom suddenly appeared in her room.

After getting over the shock of the woman suddenly appearing, Mildred glared at her. "You just don't know when to get the hint, do you?"

"I just want to talk to you."

Mildred sighed. "I thought I made it clear to you.. wait, you haven't done anything to my mum have you, put her under a spell?"

Hardbroom reeled at the accusation she or Ada would decide to suddenly snatch a girl who was being stubborn and disobedient from her mother, and it made her see how little Mildred actually trusted them. "No, how could you possibly think-?"

"It's what you would do if you didn't get your way. Most people can talk to others, make them realise they're wasting their time when an argument doesn't go their way. The trouble with you people is you can use magic to make them do what you want. I was there, Miss Hardbroom. I watched as Agatha Cackle took over the school. If you think I don't remember that day, if you really think I'm that stupid then you don't know me and probably never will. If she can pull something like that off then you can do it too."

Hecate just stared at Mildred as though she could believe this….stranger was the girl whom she had bullied in class and in school, openly calling her a disgrace in public. "I don't know where you got the impression I would ever do something like that, Mildred, but I assure you-"

"I don't give a damn about your assurances. It would be just like you, to spell a non magical simply to steal her daughter for your stupid school," Mildred snapped coldly. "I know you don't mean it. You spoke down to my mother, sent her away without bothering to listen to her like she was beneath your interest. If I did want to come back to Cackle's then what would change? Nothing. I'd still be called the worst witch, still be bullied for not knowing anything about magical customs. I don't want to know, I don't care either. I've lost interest in your world, just like you don't care for my world. Well, you've got what you wanted for Maud; me gone and out of the way."

After giving her a bitter smile Mildred turned back to her work, but she knew HB was still there.

"Many people would want nothing more than to have an opportunity to study magic, and you're throwing away the opportunity-"

Mildred was beginning to lose her temper. Did HB really think she hadn't wanted to go back? "I did want to study it, but no one wanted to really give me a chance. Now let me get on with my life, and you can go back to yours. My mum and I just want to be left in peace and enjoy a normal life - no spells, no broomsticks, and definitely no potions. Now get out of my home. You're trespassing. Stop coming to tell me all's forgiven, because I haven't forgotten." Finally she lost her temper. "Get out!"

Mildred heard Hardbroom let out a sigh and when she turned around the woman was gone but Mildred knew from experience the woman might still be around. It wasn't until she went back into the living room and found her mother alone - and untouched by magic - that Mildred was convinced the two witches were gone.

* * *

Miss Cackle had her head in her hands, cursing her stupid mouth for insulting Mildred's mother. How could she have been so thoughtless? Hecate sat down heavily nearby. "What do we do now?"

Ada looked up. "I just wanted to make it up to her. For a moment I thought I'd tempted her, I was sure of it. Then she asked me what she was wearing, talked about the friends she'd left behind to come to here, and then I realised I was wasting my time. And then I had to say that to Julie Hubble that what happened here was none of her concern. What did she say to you?"

Hecate sighed, "She asked me if one of us had spelled her mother just to steal her for the school. I couldn't believe she'd ask or think that of either of us, and she compared us both to Agatha Cackle."

Ada winced, "That was not a good impression and it showed Mildred the type of harm magic could do. But to think we'd use it on a mother, just to steal her daughter….what does that girl think of us?"

"I don't know, but I know this I don't think I can take it."

Ada looked down at her desktop. "I don't think I've ever been so ashamed of my beliefs anymore than I am now, Hecate. I never imagined myself as a bigot before. We gave Mildred the chance, and yet no matter how hard she worked no one gave her the chance. We never really wanted her here."

The deputy headmistress looked down. "I don't know what we can do about this Ada, except listen to what Mildred wants and simply leave her alone. Let's accept the facts - she isn't coming back. I also think that if and when another girl from a non witch background appears, we should change our approach so this never happens again."

Ada sighed and wondered if such a girl would appear, and if so would she be better or worse off. Mildred had been eager to learn how to be a witch and learn how to live in such a world, but they'd judged her before truly knowing her, helping her. Instead they'd treated her like all the other girls who knew what and who they were. Hecate wasn't finished, "I think we should show the memory of what happened in Mildred's home, show everyone that Mildred truly wants nothing more to do with us."

Closing her eyes, Ada nodded, regret eating away inside her. "It shouldn't have come to this, Hecate, but it has. I'm dreading the reactions of the other girls, particularly Maud and Enid. They were looking forwards to Mildred coming back. They shouldn't have gotten their hopes up." She sent her deputy an apprehensive look. "I couldn't help but overhear what Mildred said to you from her bedroom. I can't believe she of all the people I've met would think that of anyone. Do you think we should show that? It might give the girls a bad view of us."

Hecate shook her head. "That's already happened, Ada. Besides if you can hear it from the living room, so would the girls when you show them the memory. How did Mildred's mother take the accusation?"

Ada's shudder told her more than words. "Not well," she said and didn't elaborate. Hecate was pleased because she didn't want to know after seeing the daughter fly into a paranoid rage like that… "I saw a different side to Mildred today, and I think we've learnt something new about the Hubbles as well. They can make a decision but when they take it back, that's it."

Ada agreed with Hecate there. She had seen an unexpected side to Mildred today and she didn't like it. "It seems Mr Rowan Webb was right, we wouldn't like what we saw, and we didn't like what Mildred and her mother said. I don't think I can put off telling the girls and showing them and the teachers what happened, but I dread to see Maud and Enid's reactions."

"What are we going to do about Ethel and Drusilla?"

"I'd forgotten about those two," Ada replied honestly and thought for a moment. "After assembly we'll bring them in here, make it clear to them both I haven't decided what to do with them, but I will in time. Let them worry about it. They might learn to be a bit more thoughtful." The two teachers went silent for a moment before something Hecate had said penetrated Ada's brain. "I've just been thinking about something you said, Hecate," Ada began thoughtfully. "Do you see us bringing in girls from outside magical families, girls like Mildred?"

"It might be the only way to keep the Craft alive, Ada," Hecate said, "and as much as many traditionalists would probably deny it, the Craft cannot die out. I would rather the Craft survive in a new form than see it die out completely."

"Mildred could've been a new hope," Ada sighed sadly before she looked up, a look of realisation on her face. "Maybe that's why I wanted her here, really, not just as a thank you for dealing with Agatha. Maybe I wanted someone different with a different background to help the Craft. And I helped drive her away."

The school didn't take the news that Mildred would not be coming back. The feeling of guilt become more thick in the air since Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom both projected their respective memories of the mess their meeting had gone. For the girls seeing this side of Mildred, all untrusting and bitter was a slap in the face. What made it worse was how Mildred had jumped head first into the conclusion both her former teachers would put a spell on her mother to make her return, it showed just how little Mildred actually trusted them now. But they had to see things from her point of view which wasn't easy. Mildred had seen how magic could do great good and how it could be effortlessly wielded to bend the minds of people to do their bidding.

Why should Mildred trust them after all they'd put her through? And she was right, what if Miss Cackle or Miss Hardbroom had tried to put a spell on Mildred's mother? After the assembly where everyone was told to not send Mildred anymore letters, Miss Cackle had taken Maud and Enid aside. The two girls had been upset enough, but their headmistress's talk to them made them feel worse. Mildred wanted nothing to do with them. Mildred didn't want to see them ever again. They had to stop sending her mail. The teary eyed faces of both of them distressed Ada more than anything, and she hated herself for what she had done, for how everything had led to this.

* * *

13 year old Mildred Hubble felt everything was good in the world as she got dressed into her uniform and started putting on some makeup, not enough to look indecent but enough to give her features a more mature appearance. She had successfully cut off all ties with Cackle's academy and was now enjoying life in a normal school. Miss Cackle had obviously passed on her message to the other girls to simply leave her alone and let her get on with her life as though they'd never met, but Maud had sent her a final letter. Mildred's resolve almost crumbled when she saw the state of the paper with shaky handwriting covered in splotches where Maud's tears had dropped onto the letters, but it was still readable. In it she said that she would miss Mildred, that she was going to do what she wanted which was to leave her friend alone, and that she was so sorry that things had gotten to the point where Mildred would be so fearful and suspicious enough to believe her mother would be cursed by Cackle and Hardbroom into making sure Mildred returned. Maud had promised to leave Mildred alone, but that in her heart she would always consider them friends.

Mildred had almost written back, almost. But she hadn't. As far as she was concerned Maud had burnt their bridges long before the truth of what Ethel had done had come to light, and the memory of what Maud had said to her would forever be ingrained into her mind. Enid's letter was just as sorrowful, but she too would respect Mildred's wishes. Mildred wished they'd sent her a much more strongly worded letter or something, it was getting ridiculous all of these well meaning letters coming to her when she didn't want them.

But after a couple of years Mildred had more or less forgotten Maud and the others, and was content to leave them all in the past as she concentrated on her future. While a part of her would always wonder that her life at Cackle's would've been like by this stage, Mildred knew she was being unrealistic and knew she would be lurching from one crisis to the next, hoping to still be in Cackles the next day. At least in normal school she felt like things were going her way, mostly. Despite her loathing for maths and science, at least she understood the concepts of the lessons rather than being completely in the dark concerning spells and potions. Mildred smirked as she pictured a girl like Maud or even a child HB attending nonmagical school; they'd be just like her, only in reverse. Mildred wished fate made it come true, and that some of the girls and teachers from Cackles attended nonmagical school for a day. They'd stumble around forever trying to get everything right. The trouble with Cackles was there was simply no support system for girls who came from nonmagical backgrounds. Then again she had been the only one present in the school, and since magic was limited strictly to families like the Hallows and the Nightshades they saw no reason to change. Mildred shrugged, it didn't matter to her anymore.

After kissing her mother goodbye Mildred headed out of the flat.

* * *

Please tell me what you think of this first piece that's my first contribution to the Worst Witch in ages.


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